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The Puppet Face Lift with Silhouette Soft Threads

Mention the words ‘face lift’ and everyone starts thinking about scalpels, cutting into skin and then pulling back on the face, but what about a non-surgical face lift?

Times have changed, and we now have many more options in medical aesthetics which allow practitioners to work with a patient to produce the cosmetically-enhanced results which once could only be achieved with surgery. Surgery still has a place for those with considerable ageing and skin laxity, but if you’re not quite there yet, then we can do wonders with thread lifting or a puppet face lift.

The puppet face lift is a term coined, probably by the media I think, to refer to a thread lifting technique with Silhouette Soft threads to achieve a non-surgical form of face lifting.

The Silhouette Soft threads are lengths of suture material containing Poly-L-Lactic Acid or PLLA. Along each thread, which varies in size depending upon where it will be used, are small ‘cones’ made from lactic and glycolic acids. These cones are separated by knots along the suture line to stop them from sliding up and down the thread but keeping them free-floating between the knots. The cones are bi-directional which means that from the centre of the thread either 4, 6 or 8 cones will go in each direction out towards the end of the threads. The cones are the anchors for the threads so that when a thread is implanted in the skin, pulled and tightened into place, the cones secure themselves to maintain the lift. Threads are inserted using a fine needle through an entry and exit point. The same entry point will be used for multiple threads which are usually laid out in a pattern to achieve the designed amount of lifting needed. Treatment takes about 30 minutes and can be used along the jawline, the mid-face and the neck.

These threads are full re-absorbable, meaning that they do not remain permanently in the body but dissolve over time, usually after a year. PLLA has a stimulatory effect on the skin tissue, so as well as providing a mechanical lifting and skin tightening when the thread is put into position, it also increases the production of the body’s natural collagen around the thread for a longer-term result. Known as a foreign body reaction, the presence of the thread tricks the body into making more collagen so the lift from the thread remains in the natural tissues after the PLLA has been dissolved.

Due to the nature of the procedure, it’s important that you only seek treatment from an experienced medical practitioner who has undergone manufacturer-approved training, specifically in the placement of Silhouette Soft threads.

Thread lifting with Silhouette Soft is ideal for women and men, aged between their mid- to late-30s and their mid-50s, who have a good underlying skin structure but who are showing some slight sagging in the cheeks and jawline, consistent with the early signs of ageing. Such individuals would not yet be candidates for surgical intervention but would benefit from tissue lifting and tightening to improve the laxity. Results from a puppet thread lift last between 18 months to 2 years and treatment can be combined with other aesthetic treatment options such as dermal fillers.

If you’re not ready for a surgical face lift, but think a thread lift might be for you, then please arrange a consultation appointment with me, Dr. Harry Singh at Aesthetics in Stevenage, Hertfordshire and we can discuss if Silhouette Soft threads and a puppet face lift are suitable for you. Please call us on 01438 300111.